I love you
by setr
Summary: Sanji keeps finding these mysterious notes in unknown languages. What do they mean and who is sending them?
1. Galician

**Galician**

Sanji stretched languidly as he climbed out of bed. The sun was just coming over the horizon and hints of light were breaking into the men's quarters. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and was momentarily jealous that everyone else got to continue sleeping. However he had a duty, as a cook and as a man, to prepare his lovely angels a wonderful breakfast. And so he would. It would be a breakfast fit for a king, grand and delicious that would just maybe make Robin and Nami realize they loved him. Of course all of this would have to happen after a shower.

He grabbed some clothes and his shower supplies and headed for the bathroom, in desperate need of the warm water to wake him up. When he exited the bathroom several minutes later he felt awake and refreshed. A smile on his lips he made his way back to the men's quarters to drop off his things. He was about to leave again when he noticed a piece of paper on his pillow that had most definitely not been there before. Glancing around he noticed that everyone was still snoring away so whoever had left it must not be in the room. The thought of one of his goddesses slipping into his room to leave him a note had his heart beating wildly and it was only by sheer will power that he managed not to break out into song.

He snatched up the note and held it to his chest for a moment before opening it to see what was written. His brow furrowed as he read what was written and he thoroughly examined the paper to see if anything else was written. But there was only the one word, written clearly in the middle of the paper in a script Sanji was unable to attribute to any one on the ship.

'Quérote.'

The word didn't seem to be Japanese and it certainly wasn't a word he knew. He stared at the paper as if it would suddenly explain to him the meaning but as expected nothing happened. Shoving the note into his pocket Sanji headed to the galley, waving to Brook up in the crow's nest on the way. As he prepared breakfast he puzzled over the mysterious note. Was it a secret message, a code for something. If only he could figure out what it said he might have a better idea of what to think.

Slowly people started to wake up and drift into the galley. Robin was the first to arrive as usual and he poured her a cup of fresh coffee while contemplating whether he should ask her. If the note had indeed been from her than he didn't want her to think he couldn't figure it out on his own. On the other hand if it wasn't from her she would be his best ally in unlocking the mystery.

Robin seemed to be acting just like any other day and even though his pride didn't want to accept it he admitted that there wasn't a good chance she had left the note. No, if Robin had feelings for him the older woman would be much more open about it. While the few others that had woken up at that point helped themselves to coffee Sanji approached the raven-haired archaeologist.

''Robin-chan?''

''Yes Cook-san?''

''I actually have a favour to ask of you.''

''What is it?''

Sanji fished the now crumpled paper out of his pocket and handed it over.

''Could you possibly tell me what this means?''

Robin took the paper and unfolded it, her clear blue eyes scanning it carefully, her forefinger tapping her lips thoughtfully.

''Well Cook-san it appears to be Galician.''

''Galician?''

''Yes, Galicia is a medieval Castilian kingdom. I don't have a firm understanding of the language but it is some kind of statement about affection. I would venture a guess as to say it means I love you.''

Sanji stared at Robin in shock. Someone had left him a Galician love note?


	2. Turkish

**Turkish**

Later that afternoon Sanji was in the kitchen working on dinner and still pondering the note. Galician wasn't exactly a common language and whoever had left it certainly had to know Sanji wouldn't have known it. Through his conversation with Robin it had become clear she was not the one who had sent it so whether the mysterious sender had relied on Sanji asking her or not he didn't know. Maybe he wasn't even supposed to know what it meant. Perhaps it was Usopp and Franky just trying to torment him.

Just then a small timer went off and he went over to remove a tray from the oven. He placed it on the counter to cool and started to work on a tropical drink, dicing some of the fruit they had discovered on the last island. A few minutes later he was pouring a frothy, pale yellow concoction into two tall glasses. He added a slice of fruit to the rim of each cup and stuck a paper umbrella in it. Perfect. By that time the tray of biscotti had cooled and he loaded a few onto two small plates. Loading it all onto a silver serving platter he waltzed out of the room with a smile.

He found Robin on the upper deck with several old books out in front of her. She had them open to various pages and every now and then she would put one down and search for something in another one. He bowed low and placed her drink and biscotti in front of her.

"Some snacks of love for my brilliant angel."

"Thank you Cook-san."

With a nod Sanji backed away and headed to Nami's map room. He knocked lightly on the door and waited for her response. When Nami called out for him to enter he gently pushed open the door and swept in with his tray.

"I brought you some afternoon snacks my princess. They were made special with extra love."

"Thank you Sanji-kun, it looks delicious."

"It's my pleasure Nami-swan. Nami-swan you wouldn't happen to speak Galician would you?"

"Galician? Um no."

Sanji examined the look of confusion on her lovely face and sadly decided that it was probably a prank by one of the boys. Nami genuinely didn't know what he was talking about. Feeling slightly dejected he excused himself and went back to the galley, he still had dinner to prepare after all. He kept his head high however and didn't let his smile falter in case Franky or Usopp were nearby. If this was all a plan to torment him he wouldn't let them get the satisfaction.

When he re-entered the galley the first thing Sanji noticed was that the knife he had used for the fruit was sticking straight up out of the cutting block. He had definitely left it on its side, he would never stab it into something like that. He couldn't help but cringe at the potential damage it could have done to the precious blades. That was when he noticed the piece of white paper the knife had stabbed through. Another one? Well he could for sure eliminate Nami now.

Walking over he pulled out the knife, stopping to examine the tip carefully before putting it back down with a sigh of relief. His hands were shaking when he opened the new note, not sure what to expect this time.

'Seni seviyorum'

Well it sure wasn't Galician this time around. With a slight growl he switched the pot on the stove to simmer and headed for the door. Hopefully Robin could help him again.


	3. Sioux

**Sioux**

Sanji was almost out of the galley, second note clutched in his hand, when he saw it. Pierced on a nail that was sticking out of the door was a third note. He tore the note off, not bothering to be gentle and nearly ripped the paper in half. He opened it half-curious as to what mysterious language this one would be in and half-furious that these notes were taking up so much of his day.

'techihhila'

Just like with the others Sanji had no idea what this note said or what language it said it in. The best he could figure was that it appeared to be in some sort of native language but there was no small amount of those.

With both notes he headed back to the upper deck where Robin was still sitting. In his frustration he forgot to be polite and tossed them down in front of her.

"Cook-san! Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry for startling you my precious. I am just a little preoccupied. I have found two more notes and I was hoping you would be able to offer an interpretation."

Sanji felt guilty for his lack of manners and he bowed deep in apology. Robin however just smiled and picked up the papers. She glanced at the one for only a short period before nodding her head then looking at the other.

"Seni seviyorum is Turkish for I love you. The other I can recognize as Sioux but couldn't tell you what it means. However given the other two notes I would wager it is safe to assume it means I love you."

Sanji wanted to scream, someone was sneaking around leaving him declarations of love in languages he didn't even know. And to make matters worse it wasn't one of the two females on board.

"Robin-chan, do you know who is leaving these?"

"I'm sorry Cook-san but I can't say I do. I could keep an eye out if you would like however."

Sanji pondered her offer briefly, if anyone could figure out who was the mystery sender it would be Robin. Her gifts only helped in that aspect. If Franky and Usopp were only playing a prank on him it would be nice to know, however what if that weren't the case. He had his other suspicions, perhaps even hopes if he was being brutally honest with himself. Did he want Robin to know of that? In the end he agreed to her help since odds were she would end up finding out one way or another and it would be quicker just to have her know from the get go. So feeling a bit better, high hopes that it would be resolved soon Sanji returned to the galley.


	4. From Finnish to Greek

**From Finnish to Greek**

The sun was low in the sky, delaying its final descent below the horizon just a little bit longer. Sanji smiled softly into the night before flicking his cigarette butt out into the ocean. The rest of the day had gone by smoothly without any more mysterious notes showing up and slowly the tension eased from his shoulders. The crew seemed to have retired below deck for the evening and the walls were muting out the noises allowing a peaceful calm to settle over the deck. The cook returned to the galley to clean up the rest of the mess before heading up to the crow's nest to settle in for his shift.

"Shitty notes!" he cried out as soon as he entered.

There on the table were three or four little pieces of paper folded in half. He'd bet his last cigarette that they were more love notes in god knows what language. He stomped over to the table, feeling like throwing an all out tantrum yet knowing it was pointless and childish. The first one had been intriguing, albeit a tad annoying – Galician really? – but now he just wanted to know what the purpose was.

He methodically opened each one, examined it then closed it again. He put them all on a small plate and walked over to the tube that went down to the aquarium room. He put them in and sent them down, knowing Robin was in there reading and hoping she could at least give him the languages. He didn't doubt that they all said I love you but the language was the only clues he had. A few minutes later the plate came back up and Sanji took it out, opening up the notes.

'Rakastan sinua' – Finnish

'Tora dost daram' – Farsi

'Gráím thú' – Gaelic

'S' ayapo' – Greek

The fact that she didn't translate them only meant that they did mean I love you. He stared at the papers and fished the others he had been keeping in his pocket out. He didn't know why he didn't just throw them away but somehow he found he couldn't. He had tossed them into the bin once but had fished them back out a minute later. He smoothed them all out and stared at them. Galician, Turkish, Sioux, Finnish, Farsi, Gaelic and Greek. As long as he stared at them he couldn't quite make out any connection between the languages. It seemed that the only connection after all was the message they delivered.

Someone was going through a lot of effort for a simple prank and Sanji had this feeling that it was more than that. He didn't know why and couldn't really explain it but somehow he knew that whoever was sending him these notes meant the message. Someone on this ship really did love him and was willing to put in a lot of effort to get the message across without approaching him. Once upon a time finding out that someone loved him this much would have meant the world to Sanji but right now he was simply too puzzled to comprehend the enormity of the notes. After all who could be sending them?


	5. Worldly Love

**Worldly Love**

Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, or Brook. Those were his options, and he wasn't sure whether he should laugh or cry. He thought over the list and decided he might as well try to rule some of them out. Chopper was the first to go because well frankly the reindeer was, well, a _reindeer_ and it just wasn't something he would do. It was with relief that Brook was the next to be eliminated. Brook had been on watch when the first note had appeared and Sanji wasn't in the bathroom long enough for him to have got down from the crow's nest and back without him noticing. So he was left with a bottomless pit, a masochistic directionless oaf, a cowardly liar and a cyborg. People certainly wouldn't be envying his love life.

This grand of a declaration might suit Franky's dramatic streak but if Franky were going to send love declarations they would most likely be more flowery and with song. So it was with relief that he took out the cyborg. It had to be one of the "original" crew as he saw it. The guys that were there before they entered the Grand Line. Sanji's head was starting to throb at all the deducing and contemplation so he decided to give it a rest for awhile. It was going to be a long night on watch anyhow. Grabbing some fresh coffee he made his way up to the crow's nest.

He was running through potential menu options for the next day as he climbed, his actions coming by habit. It was because of this preoccupation that he didn't notice at first what was glaringly obvious. He had just decided that he should use up what was left of the lamb they had gotten at the last port when he took in his surroundings. The mug of coffee hit the ground with a shattering crash. Coffee and ceramic flying everywhere.

"Shit! Shit, shit shit!"

Sanji could only stare in shock. How did no one notice someone putting them all here. This wasn't love notes anymore this was more like love wallpaper. An entire pane of glass was covered in them and by this point what language they were in didn't even matter. Looking at them closely he could even recognize a few of them but he couldn't for the life of him figure out some of the others. He moved closer to the glass, needing to read each one. Long or short he read it. Whether he was pronouncing them right in his head or not he stood there reading every single declaration.

'Kocham cię',  
'Të dua',  
'Jeg elsker dig',  
'Maite zaitut',  
'Bi chamd khairtai',  
'Saya mencintaimu',  
'Aloha Au Ia ʻOe',  
'Te iubesc',  
'Asavakit',  
'Ich liebe dich',  
'Mi aime jou',  
'Ma armastan sind',  
'Sarang hae',  
'Te quiero'

Sanji's fingers traced over the letters of the now familiar writing that he still couldn't identify. He felt like he knew who it was sending these but he couldn't quite figure it out. Like a name on the tip of your tongue which you know you know but can't say. His heart knew who it had to be, had possibly known since the very second note if not the first.

As he was staring at the collage of love notes Sanji was suddenly overcome with the urge to return to the men's quarters. It was as if some invisible force was pulling him there and maybe just maybe if he went now his heart would reveal the answer to this all. Without paying the spilled coffee any attention Sanji left the crow's nest with his heart pounding. Pounding a message that he was finally ready to hear.

(Polish, Albanian, Danish, Basque, Mongolian, Indonesian, Hawaiian, Romanian, Greenlandic, German, Creole, Estonian, Korean, Spanish)


	6. Magic

**Magic**

Sanji's heart was thumping in his chest and foreign words swam in his head as he rushed to the men's quarters. If he had taken the time to think about it he might have been horrified to have his angels see him in this state but for seemingly the first time since joining the crew he didn't care what they thought of him. With a deep breath he pushed open the door and strode into the room and there was...

...nobody. The room was completely empty, Sanji the only one there. He felt his heart sink and he only then realized how much his heart had been counting on this discovery. Standing in the empty room Sanji suddenly felt foolish for coming down here in such a frenzy. An imaginary force? What had he been thinking, a few love notes didn't make magic real. Not wanting to admit how caught up he had been he told himself he had been cold. He had rushed down for a jacket, that was all. He was in a hurry because he should be up there watching, looking out for his precious goddesses. That was it. Nothing else.

He crossed stoically over to the closet by his bed and jerked the door open harder than was necessary. When he saw the piece of paper sitting neatly on top of a dress shirt he wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not. He glanced around the room suspiciously but he was still alone. He didn't want to grab at nothing with an audience to see him losing his mind. As Sanji reached out tentatively his hand was shaking, the last time his hand had shook this much he had ran out of cigarettes a few days before making port. He always bought an extra carton now. But he definitely wasn't suffering from nicotine withdrawal this time.

Sanji let out a sigh of relief when his fingers closed around the paper, there was solid paper under his finger pads. It was tangible, it was real. Somehow he knew this one was going to be different, this one was going to be the last one. Perhaps magic did exist, at least it could on the Grand Line. He slowly opened the note, taking his time and savouring the moment. When he read what was written he couldn't help but chuckle. He should have known that's what it would say.


	7. Japanese

**Japanese**

Sanji chuckled and soon it turned into full out laughter. He knew he was laughing harder than he should but all the tension and stress was just unrolling around him. He knew there would be someone behind him before he felt the gaze on his back. Sanji laughed a bit longer before turning around knowing exactly who he would find there.

''How?'' he asked with a soft smile.

He dropped the paper to catch the book that came sailing his way. It wasn't that big, probably only a couple hundred pages thick. His smile grew as he read the title, written in a flourishing satin red script.

'Love around the World'

So that's how he had been doing it. The languages had been nothing more than a random choice from a list of thousands. Sanji had been giving him way too much credit in this when he had done nothing more than copy some words from a book.

''Get your skinny ass over here.''

Sanji glared at the other man but complied anyways. Strong hands reached out and pulled him close, settling on his hips. Sanji reached up and threaded his fingers through the short green hair and pulled the swordsman down to meet him. Their lips met in a soft kiss, sharing everything their hearts had always known. There, on the ground behind them was the last note, nothing elaborate and of course no explanation, just two words.

'daisuki desu'

(Japanese)

_I considered not revealing who it was from but thought you might kill me...._


	8. Message on the Mirror

**Message on the Mirror**

Sanji untangled himself from the swordsman as dawn broke over the Grand Line. Zoro grunted lightly in his sleep and his arms tightened around Sanji's frame. Sanji sighed and elbowed the swordsman in the ribs, breaking free of his embrace. Every shitty morning he had to hit the stupid guy to be able to get free. Of course he could just stay in bed until Zoro got up but then he wouldn't have breakfast ready in time for his eager captain. Rubbing at his face he made his way sleepily to the bathroom.

The water was hot on Sanji's skin and he delighted in the slight sting of the spray. He was careful not to stay too long in the shower, not wanting his skin to start to prune or the hot water to run out. He groped blindly for his towel as he stepped out of the shower, drying himself off briskly. That's when he saw the message. It wasn't a note like all those months before but a message written in the steam on the mirror. However like the ones before Sanji had no clue what it said.

'Tahib tajawazini?'*

Sanji stared at the message until it was ingrained in his mind, the supposed pronunciation running through his head again and again. However if the love notes that had started this whole relationship had taught him anything it was that it would reveal itself in time. Getting frustrated wouldn't help. He wiped off the mirror with a smile and continued getting ready.

Sanji wasn't surprised to find the bed empty when he got back. It was customary for Zoro to start his training while Sanji showered so he'd be done in time for breakfast. And the message clearly indicated that he had been up. Lighting a cigarette the cook headed to the galley, the message in the corner of his mind but not taking up his whole attention. He glanced idly to the crow's nest but noticed neither the swordsman nor Luffy who had been on watch over the night.

Pushing open the door Sanji strode into the galley, automatically flipping on the stove before heading to the fridge. He pulled the padlock key out of his pocket so he could open it. It took a good five minutes to get all the chains off but sadly it was necessary or there wouldn't be any food in the morning. He reached in for the eggs he would need for the Tamagoyaki and pulled out the carton. Sitting on top of the carton however was a note, light green paper folded neatly in fourths. Curious, Sanji set the eggs down and picked up the note. After unfolding it he was glad to have thought to put the eggs down, for if he hadn't he surely would have dropped them.

'kekkon shiyou?'

Sanji was still staring at the note in shock when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see Zoro slouched in a chair, his feet propped up on the table. The corner of his mouth was turned up slightly, more of a smirk than a smile but that was Zoro for you.

"So, what do you say?"

"Are you serious?"

Zoro just looked at him his green eyes answering all of Sanji's questions in just one look. Sanji looked from the note to Zoro and took a drag of his cigarette before answering.

"Of course I'll marry you, you shitty swordsman."

Zoro just grunted, slowly stretching before coming over to where Sanji stood. Just before their lips met he let out a single word.

"Good."

_* Arabic *_


End file.
